The Little Black Dress of Salad Dressings

First of all I feel like I should be open and honest here: I do not, in fact, have a little black dress. See, little black dresses are so cute and fun and flirty and I love them. However, they are not all that great for chasing children in, which is what my normal everyday consists of. I realize that the LBD isn’t for everyday wear, but is instead that trusty garment that makes you feel amazing when you slide into for social occasions.

My LBD isn’t a dress, y’all. It’s a salad dressing.

I know I’ve said it a million and one times, but making your own salad dressing is not hard. All you need is a bowl and a whisk, maybe a knife, or a blender of some kind. A good oil, some kind of acid, a few seasonings…VOILA. In fact, one of the highest grossing recipes on my site is this amazing honey mustard dressing! As simple as it is I hardly ever make them though! We don’t eat a ton of salad around here because I actually hate making my own salad. The chopping, the deciding of ingredients, all of it just seems like a lot of work. Is that weird? Because I actually really love eating salad!

Anyway, all of that randomness was to say that when we actually do make a salad in my house it’s practically a special event, as was the case Sunday night. I opened the fridge hoping to just find a bottle of Ranch and be done with it, but alas the planets aligned and all we had are a bunch of olives and mustard. Fine by me most days, but neither of those equates to a dressing on their own. After pouting for about 2 minutes I took my own advice and threw together a splendid dressing that will be made in large quantities from here on out so that we can always have a great dressing on hand!

My little piece of advice for this one: if you really want a perfectly emulsified number go ahead and do this in a blender or food processor of some kind. You can do the whole whisking thing, but I’m just such a fan of the blender version. If you DO go the whisking route, I would recommend pasting your garlic in a microplane grater to keep big chunks of garlic from getting into a bite. Otherwise, make this dressing and just leave it in your fridge! Because of the olive oil it will thicken, so I like to pull mine out about 20 minutes before using so it comes to room temp, then just shake and pour. Done!

Insider tip: this makes a great marinade too. Just saying!

THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS OF SALAD DRESSINGS

Makes about 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 large garlic clove (or 2 small), smashed or roughly chopped

1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tablespoon honey or maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon dried parsley (you can use fresh and double the amount)

Directions:

If you’re using a blender or a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth and emulsified. Some blenders have a salad dressing/dip button and that works fine!

If you’re using a bowl and a whisk, combine everything (with the garlic finely chopped or pasted) exceptthe olive oil in a bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly stream in the olive oil while whisking until the whole thing is emulsified.